𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 (𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.)

FOURTEEN. unfinished business

Reggie chuckled triumphantly as he held the notebook up and opened it, ignoring Flora's groans. With a raised eyebrow, he looked up to her.

"A songbook, huh? I didn't know you wrote songs."

"I don't..." Flora tried snatching it out of his hands, but he was quick to pull it back. With a defeated frown, she leaned against the banister. "Okay, I do, but they're not good. Please give it back."

Reggie didn't do that but instead flipped through the pages until he stopped on one and grin.

"Only if you play one song."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. You don't have to sing the whole thing. Just the chorus," Reggie suggested before sticking out his bottom lip, giving Flora a pout. "Please, please, please, please—"

"Alright, alright!" Flora huffed while Reggie beamed like a kid on Christmas. "Gosh, you're annoying, you know that."

"You love it," Reggie declared and Flora shook her head, biting back the smile that was itching to grow on her face.

"Okay, uhm, which song?"

"Uh," Reggie looked down at the pages before answering, "lovin kind."

Flora's brown eyes turned to saucers. Not only was that the song she was playing before Reggie showed up, but it was also a song inspired by Reggie. Actually, written for Reggie. However, she couldn't let him know that. Instead, she cleared her throat and set her songbook between them. She looked up to him, fiddling with her strings.

"Just the chorus?"

"Stop stalling," Reggie accused her, looking like a kid on Christmas. It did warm Flora's heart that he cared so much about hearing something she created. "But just the chorus."

A smile tugged on her lips and she eventually looked away from Reggie, focusing on her guitar. She began playing the melody for lovin kind, her eyes straying on Reggie. She knew the words. They rolled off her tongue easily because the person who it was written for was right there.

"Truth is I hate how I feel when I watch you go. Pushing you away, hopin' you're pulling me close," Flora sang. "Drop a subtle hint, I wish that you'd let me know oh." Reggie held up Flora's songbook, glancing down at the messy writing to the girl putting all her passion and love into it. The smile on his face failed to leave, only getting wider and wider. Every word Flora sang every tune she played, it was like taking in a breath of fresh air. It was something so rare yet so magnificent that he never wanted it to end. "Tell me if you want it, yea, yea, yea. 'Cause if I'm being honest, yea, yea, yea. I don't wanna waste my time if you're not the lovin kind."

Flora's glistening eyes failed to leave Reggie, but instead, studied him. She hated studying, the thought of staying up until early in the morning, filled with stress and anxiety. But this was different. As weird as it sounded, studying Reggie brought comfort and warmth to her. She took in the way Reggie's eyes crinkled, the way his smile shone brighter than the stars out, the way his fingers hit the wooden floor to match the tempo, and it certainly sent butterflies in her stomach. She gave the bassist a nod, gesturing to the songbook, and together, they sang the rest of the chorus. Somehow, their voices meshed perfectly together, like they were meant to sing together forever.